Croatia's free-flow tolls: what changes on 1 March 2027

Croatia is moving its motorway tolls to free flow. The toll law passed by the Sabor on 15 December 2025 brings the rules on registration, the contractual penalty and fines into force on 1 March 2027 (Narodne novine 156/2025). Instead of a ticket and a pay booth, gantries above the road will read the ENC tag or the number plate. The system is called Crolibertas and covers the motorways of Hrvatske autoceste (HAC), Bina Istra and Autocesta Zagreb-Macelj, a combined 1,338 kilometres of tolled motorways and semi-motorways (Crolibertas). It applies to everyone who drives through Croatia, including holidaymakers from abroad.

Gantries now on the Istrian Y too

Near Pula, preparatory work has started for a gantry on the Istrian Y, the motorway run by Bina Istra, index.hr reports (index.hr). On the A1 the gantries have been going up for months: the 100th was mounted at the Šibenik toll station on 3 September 2026 (Crolibertas), the 111th at Dugopolje on 16 September. Since October HAC has been testing equipment and processes across the network, including the Bina Istra and Autocesta Zagreb-Macelj routes (HAC notice of 5 October). The gantries read ENC tags, recognise number plates and determine the vehicle class. An ENC may beep as you pass, and a camera photographs the plate and the vehicle model. The tests run until the system goes live. HAC has not yet published its own start date on crolibertas.hr. Until then, ticket and barrier work as before.

How you will pay from March 2027

The toll still depends on the length of the section and the vehicle class (Article 7). What changes is how you pay. Before driving, you register in the electronic toll system (Article 16):

• Number plate model: register your plate and a valid payment method. The gantry camera recognises the car, and the toll is charged to that payment method.
• ENC model: register the plate, the serial number or barcode of the ENC tag and a payment method. Operators must move ENC tags bought before the launch into the new system by the start date at the latest (Article 59).
• Where: on a national sales website, in apps and through online banking, in dedicated quick-registration lanes on the motorway, at the operators' sales offices and at partner outlets. Registration must be available around the clock.
• Who needs an ENC: cars and other light vehicles choose between ENC and number plate. For heavy vehicles the ENC is mandatory (Article 15).

What it means for visitors

Easter 2027 falls on 28 March, four weeks after the legal start date. Anyone driving to Istria or Dalmatia then, or in summer, will most likely pay without a barrier.

If you enter the motorway without registering, you must register at the first quick-registration lane at the latest (Article 16). Driving without any registration costs the toll for the route plus a flat contractual penalty of 120 euros (Article 22). A fine of 300 to 600 euros can come on top (Article 52). The registered keeper and the leaseholder are liable alongside the driver, so with a hire car that includes the rental company. For unpaid tolls on cars from other EU countries, operators may request keeper data from the country of registration through the ministry (Article 39). The toll may not vary by country of registration (Article 7).

Vignettes in Austria and Slovenia, tunnel tolls and today's A1 prices are in our guide Driving to Croatia. Current waiting times at the borders: Border crossings and waiting times. Heading for Istria: Pula.